Papers
11
Total Citations
74
H-Index
6
About
P.R. Klarer is a robotics researcher at Sandia National Laboratories whose career spans autonomous mobile systems, planetary exploration rovers, and cooperative multi-robot control. Beginning as early as 1987 with the SIR-1 autonomous mobile sentry robot — a beacon-free navigation system designed for high-security facility protection — Klarer established an early foothold in practical, field-deployable robotics. He is perhaps best known for his foundational work on the Robotic All-Terrain Lunar Exploration Rover (RATLER), a four-wheeled, all-wheel-drive dual-body vehicle distinguished by its elegantly simple chassis articulation mechanism, enabling reliable mobility over rugged lunar terrain. This work, documented across multiple publications from 1993 to 1994, garnered 17 citations at its peak and influenced thinking around lightweight planetary mobility. Klarer later shifted focus toward multi-robot coordination, contributing to DARPA-funded research on cooperative robotic sentry systems and swarm behavior, with papers on flocking control and perimeter defense accumulating over 35 combined citations. His trajectory reflects a consistent theme: achieving robust, intelligent behavior through mechanical and algorithmic simplicity, with real-world defense and space exploration applications at the forefront.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1RATLER: Robotic All-Terrain Lunar Exploration Rover17 citations · 1993
- 2<title>Control of multiple robotic sentry vehicles</title>11 citations · 1999
- 3
- 4<title>Robotic perimeter detection system</title>10 citations · 1999
- 5Small scale intelligence for lunar exploration6 citations · 1997
- 6<title>Cooperative robotic sentry vehicles</title>6 citations · 1999
- 7
- 8SIR-1: An autonomous mobile sentry robot3 citations · 1987
- 9
- 10Lunar exploration rover program developments2 citations · 1994